Windber mauls Meyersdale

The Tribune-Democrat

MEYERSDALE — Windber’s Jarid Cover ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and Eric Soler returned a kickoff for a touchdown as the Ramblers held off Meyersdale, 46-34, in a wild WestPAC game on Friday night.

“I’m very happy about the win as far as the seniors are concerned,” Windber coach Phil DeMarco said. “They ended the season at 7-2, and we got the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. That’s a very good thing.

“But, I’m not happy about our defense. They didn’t play very well. We had some timely defensive plays. We recovered a fumble in our own end zone to stop one of their scoring drives. That was real big. But, overall, it was a win and I guess that’s what it was all about.”

Ben Lohr’s 1-yard touchdown run had pulled the Red Raiders (5-4) to within two scores at 34-20. They were about to close the gap even more but Meyersdale fumbled at the 1-yard line and Windber recovered in the end zone.

The Ramblers went 80 yards for a touchdown on the next possession with Cover capping off the drive with a 4-yard run.

From Meyersdale coach Chris Schrock’s vantage point, the fumble was the turning point in the game.

“I don’t want to say the fumble broke our back,” Schrock said. “It was the ensuing Windber score that did us in. That was the difference-maker. We were still playing.”

Meyersdale struck first in the game as quarterback Matt Bittner scored on a 1-yard sneak. Windber answered with a pair of second-quarter touchdown runs by Brandon Ulasky.

Ulasky, who kicked four extra points on the night, scored from 1 and 4 yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Meyersdale closed the deficit as Ian Edwards scored from 3 yards out. The kick failed, leaving the Red Raiders trailing by a point.

Windber answered, as Cover scored just before the end of the half for a 21-13 lead.

Soler broke it open with his 90-yard kick return.

“It was huge, but our kids hung in there,” Schrock said of the return for a touchdown. “They fought.”

DeMarco agreed.

“The 46-34 final score speaks for itself,” he said. “Meyersdale played with a lot of heart.”

Meyersdale’s Ben Lohr, who went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 169-yard effort on Friday, scored from a yard out to get Red Raiders within striking distance.

Kyle Smith added a 4-yard scoring run for Windber while Edwards had a 1-yard touchdown for Meyersdale.

Bittner, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 148 yards, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Miller. Detrick Peterman had five catches for 112 yards.

Both teams finished with 18 first downs.

“We had 229 yards rushing, 148 passing,” Schrock said. “We outgained them in yardage. Our offense did well and our defense ... We just weren’t able to get in their way. Windber’s single wing was just too much for us.”


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